YAVAPAI COUNTY, Ariz. — The Yavapai County Sheriff's Office is charging an alleged fentanyl dealer with manslaughter, marking the first time the agency has filed these types of charges for a case involving a fatal drug overdose.
Filippo Alviano, 38, was taken into custody last week on suspicion of supplying the fentanyl that killed 28-year-old Trevor Rauch on Aug. 3, 2021.
The day before his death, Rauch allegedly texted Alviano and asked if he had any "blues." The two later met up in Prescott where Rauch allegedly purchased the drugs from the suspect, YCSO said.
Rauch was later found unresponsive in the bathroom of a local Circle K store. His death was caused by fentanyl intoxication. The suspect allegedly fled Arizona soon after Rauch's death.
YCSO then spent the next several months investigating cell phone records and eventually tracked Alviano down to New York state. He's now awaiting extradition back to Arizona to face a charge of manslaughter.
"The unique nature of this case is that it is the first time in Yavapai County that a suspect is being charged with manslaughter in an overdose death stemming from dealing drugs to the deceased," the agency wrote in a statement.
Arizona law classifies manslaughter as a Class 2 felony, which can carry a lengthy prison sentence. The offense has traditionally been used in cases where a defendant recklessly causes a fatal car collision or carelessly fires a gun.
“As much as known about the dangers of fentanyl, there is no grace for those who knowingly sell it to others,” said Yavapai County Sheriff David Rhodes in a statement.
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